Day 15: Venice Day 5, picturus interruptus

Day 15:  Venice Day 5, picturus interruptus

THB's idea of a healthy breakfast; there's a sausage nearby

Quote of the Day: Let’s keep it slow and easy today

Weather: Light rain and slight breezes, probably low to mid 60s; fairly pleasant give our pace

Picturus Interruptus: It took THB many tries to get all these minimalist pics into the blog (why did THB do that, one or two minimalist works would've been plenty). Rather than re-orient the pictures to the text, THB decides to re-orient the text to the pics (which were no longer in chronological order). You gotta be on the top of your game to produce a blog better than SMC...THB fell well short today.

Mid-afternoon

A nice stop for gelati and coffee around 2:15 and then back to room to handle boarding passes and packing for an early start tomorrow. We’re heading to Calabria through Rome, two short flights.

If you order a cone, it comes on top of the gelati, otherwise you get two cookies

Two young women each have a lunch plate and are sharing this sundae; they laugh when they see we are staring....they don't finish it

Light dinner off the hotel bar menu in a comfortable setting: THB and SMC shared an immense club sandwich, DB had a rare burger, fries that came with each entree then split three ways, bubbly water, vodka and lime, and a Campari sprizzone, somewhere around $75 for 3.

This quarter of the hotel's club sandwich is a meal; THB and SMC each get two quarters 

Campari spritz

Vodka and lime and a lot of ice

Shots from around town:

Back of church at the vaporetto stop on way to Jewish Museum

THB's list for day....we only go to the Fortuny and de Waal exhibits (at top of list); not on list is the museum 5 minutes from the hotel, it will have to be a 2021 priority

Sunday morning is the only time we get checked for the honesty of tapping in before getting on vaporetto

Two (with four legs) who get caught without their passes 

The front of the church, very unusual. There is someone panhandling just to right, one of very few we see in Venice (and their were very few in Paris)

More laundry on Sunday than Saturday 

We're in the Jewish quarter so Moses and the Commandments is the building adornment

Unusual street with shutters and balconies sticking out. How about one t-shirt being dried?

It’s unanimous: time to make Day 5 a slow one, minimalist and not too long. We don’t leave until around 10am, head to our furthest point: the Jewish Museum with one of two Edmund de Waal shows. It is definitely minimal, and fascinating mixed in with our tour of the synagogue related material.

Pics from Edmund de Waal show at Jewish Museum and museum pieces

de Waal is known for his small intimate porcelain, this time mixed with gold "plates"

indoor Sukkah, at one time it might have been on rooftop

With a name like this, do you think the expectations of the child are pretty high?

THB cannot remember if the  mohel used this tool or not...thankfully he doesn't remember the sensation of pain either

More Pics from around town:

THB thought we should take this sign at face value...WRONG!

Most unusual gondola seen in Venice

Fornasetti exhibit?

Yep

It is sprinkling, and umbrellas are out. We vaporetto back to Accademia Bridge and find a sandwich place: think a mix of tapas plates and pre-made open and closed faced sandwiches. We share a mix of 7 sandwiches, and DB and THB get drunk at lunch again. $35 for 3

THB has totally corrupted DB

More shots from around town

It's sprinkly, or is it spritzing

SMC buys umbrella near Jewish Museum, good idea for the rest of the day!

Barriers stored in middle of small streets

Nearby is the second de Waal show: a small “library” based on books by exiles, books about exiles, and any other books dealing with exiles, sorted by country (and thus language). Inside the cover is a place for people to sign the book (implying support for the exiles). THB signs in the first two books he has read: Lolita and Lady Chatterly’s Lover. Hmmmm…a theme is emerging of his teenage reading habits.

Fortunately DB finds the Hare With Amber Eyes by de Waal, and we all sign.

Our 3 signatures at top of pages

One of the merchants uses the rain to clean the awning (not sweeping off water, he's scrubbing)

Our last stop of the day is another revelation: a retrospective of Yun Hyung-Keum, who painted in very broad brushstrokes. Some of his work is very reminiscent of Rothko. Turns out he also knew Donald Judd and Lee Ufan (also Korean).

The "edges" on the columns is from paint seeping under masking tape...maybe he fixed toilets too

Large brushstrokes

The toilets are outside in shaft

Yun was pretty much an A A A A guy, not a lot of breath in his work

If we hadn't seen the Kournellis retrospective yesterday we would have dismissed this as home repair

THB's arty shot of the day

Fortuny self-portrait

Meditation room, there's a soundtrack of low gong being rung on a regular basis

This sums up Yun's palette

Yun's real studio moved to the Fortuny. The floor is loaded with black paint

Stills from video

Actual brushes

On left is Lee Ufan, another famous minimalist, has his own museum on Naoshima with not many pieces (Ando is architect, of course)

Yun and Judd

Judd book-ended by Yun

Another minimalist link-up

This is a small smudge on painting above: JARRING!

Another jarring painting, not many with the columns atilt

Before he became a painter, he was persecuted activist

This spire is atilt also, the railing on right is straight up and down

More pics from around town: